Nursery children in South Shields and Hebburn show support for little girl fighting brain tumour with Wear A Hat Day events

Eleanore Guthrie, five, from Jarrow, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in January 2021, and, despite undergoing multiple surgeries, it cannot be removed and she will need ongoing treatment.

Her mum Karen called for groups in South Tyneside to show their support by taking part in the Wear A Hat Day appeal, organised by the Brain Tumour Research.

Nurserytime Hebburn, where Eleanore attended, and its sister branch Nurserytime South Shields, were among those taking part.

In South Shields, children and staff organised a hat parade in South Marine Park, also attended by Mayor and Mayoress of South Tyneside Councillor Pat Hay and Jean Copp, Nathan Kew from the South Shields FC Foundation, and Callum Ross, vice captain of South Shields FC.

Helen Coulson, Nurserytime South Shields manager, said: “We are so grateful to all of our wonderful families that have participated and donated to this worthy cause. What a lovely morning we had.”

The children also decorated the nursery garden for the occasion in the charities colours and raised money for Brain Tumour Research. The total is yet to be confirmed.

Elena Wood, manager of Nurserytime Hebburn, said the cause was one close to their hearts, with Eleanore having attended the nursery when she was younger.

She said: “We all wore hats and our preschool children decided the best way to spread the word would be to make sure our dinosaur in the window was wearing a hat so all the cars going past would see.”

Karen Guthrie said: “I’m Overwhelmed with the response and I’m so happy everyone took part - I can’t wait for next year to make it bigger and better.”

Wear a Hat Day, the culmination of Brain Tumour Awareness Month, took place on Friday, March 25.

Brain Tumour Research said brain tumours are indiscriminate and can affect anyone at any age, though they kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.

The charity said historically just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to the devastating disease, meaning funds raised from events such as those on Wear A Hat Day would make a big difference to helping fight the cancer.

Support your Gazette and become a subscriber today.

Enjoy unlimited access to all of our news and sport, see fewer ads, experience faster load times, test your brain with daily puzzles and get access to exclusive newsletters.

Your support for our journalism means we can continue telling South Tyneside’s stories for generations to come. Click here to subscribe - and click here to get a snapshot of the Gazette’s news and sport to your inbox through our email newsletters.